The men and women's cross country competed in their second meet of the season at the Nory Hersey Rice Invitational against some of the best teams in the state of Texas. The meet included other schools such as Rice, University of Houston, University of Texas, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, St. Edwards, Praire View, and UT Rio Grande Valley. The teams competed on the thick grass of the Rice Intramural Fields racing 4 miles for the men and 4km for the women.
The men were lead by Alex De La Maza who finished 25th and was the 10th overall freshman in the race. Michael Skinner was the number two runner for St. Thomas with a finish in 38th and was the 16th top freshmen in the race. Coming in third for the team was Juan Gonzales in 59th followed by Joel Garza and Armando Hernandez in 61st and 65t.
The men averaged a time of 22:21 for the 4 miles (5:35/mile) and finished with a score of 219 points total.
On the women's side, the Celts were lead by Venice Macawilii who finished in 54th place with a time of 16:12 (6:30/mile) for the 4k distance. Following next was Alex Gonzales who placed 75th and ran 16:58. Next was Fatima Mancia who finished 82nd with a time of 17:29. Rounding out the team was Maricela Hernandez in 91st with a time of 19:19. The women were one runner short of scoring as a team with the absence of Abby Ringen being out due to injury.
Moving forward, the team will compete on September 22nd at the Saints Collegiate Invitational. The meet is predicted to have 30+ teams competing and the Celts will test their fitness against some of the best NAIA and D3 schools in the South.
